Julian Phelps, 64, of Marietta continues on his morning walk Thursday near a home on Post Oak Tritt Road, where Cobb County Police are investigating the deaths of a man and woman discovered Wednesday afternoon. Sherrie Newton, 43, and Bryan Bunch, 26, both of Marietta, were found dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Staff/Kelly J. Huff

MARIETTA — A suspected killer, who police say was responsible for a murder-suicide in east Cobb on Wednesday, was described as “reserved and eccentric,” by a former classmate.

Sherrie Newton’s husband, Marty, told police he returned at 5:30 p.m. to his home on Post Oak Tritt Road, west of Johnson Ferry Road, and discovered the bodies of his wife and another man. Marty Newton then called 911, said Cobb Police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce.

Police said the two bodies were those of Sherrie Newton, 43, who was struck by multiple gunshots, and Bryan Bunch, 26, who died from one gunshot wound.

Pierce said, based on a preliminary investigation by the medical examiner and police, it is suspected Bunch used a handgun to kill Newton and then himself. There was no sign of forced entry, he said.

Police records show Bunch lived on Fairfield Court, just a few miles south of the Post Oak Tritt Road residence where the bodies were found. Police said he did not have a criminal record.

Sherrie Newton’s cousin, Jamie Ellis of White, wrote on her open Facebook Friday that Bunch and Newton went to the same gym, and that “he’d been stalking her … please keep her husband Marty & their son Cody in your prayers … this makes no sense … I worked for her for 2½ years after I graduated high school … She was a good person, hard-working, & beautiful.”

Nicholas Juliano, who works in downtown Atlanta, said he knew Bunch from their days in school at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, a pre-K through 12th grade school in Sandy Springs.

“Bryan and I definitely go back,” Juliano said, referring to his first memories of Bunch from early elementary school.

Juliano said Bunch was at times friendly and at time contentious.

“He was not very close to anybody,” Juliano said.

Teachers, classmates shocked

Bunch was not a loner, “he was social,” said Juliano, who last saw Bunch at a Holy Innocents’ alumni event in 2010.

Pierce said the relationship between Bunch and Newton is not known, and investigators are looking for a “common thread” that links the two.

Bunch was very intelligent and went to Princeton University, in New Jersey, on a “full ride” scholarship, Juliano said.

Still, Juliano said Bunch had a reputation for "wrestling with a lot of demons,” but he never thought Bunch was scary or violent.

Juliano said he reached out to officials at the Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School on Thursday morning and had been in contact with former teachers and classmates.

“Everybody is shocked. You never expect someone to commit murder,” Juliano said.

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